We continue to utilize a 2x512MB memory configuration in order to stay consistent with our previous test results. Our choice of memory remained the same for both our DDR and DDR2 base tests. All test results with DDR2-667 at 3-4-4-10 and DDR2-800 at 4-4-4-12 were generated with the voltage increased to 2.1V on the Transcend modules that performed admirably throughout our testing regimen. We would also like to mention that we tested our TwinMos Twister DDR2-667 512MB modules at even lower latencies at DDR2-667/800 with results being provided in our final article.

Our DDR memory is from Patriot Memory and resided in one of our test systems for several weeks. The memory features low latencies at DDR-400 (PC3200) and costs around $100 for a 1GB kit.

Patriot PDC1G3200LLK Memory Specifications

Number of DIMMs & Banks

2 DS

DIMM Size

512MB

Total Memory

1 GB

Rated Timings

2-3-2-5 1T at DDR-400

Rated Voltage

2.6V

Additional Information on these very popular DIMMs is available at the Patriot website. We have memory that offers additional headroom for overclocking and also memory that was representative of PC3200 modules shipped a couple of years ago with 2.5 CAS ratings. However, we felt like this memory is a good blend of performance and pricing for our testing.

Our DDR2 memory is from Transcend and was utilized in some extensive HTPC testing for our upcoming Intel DHCAT article. The memory features average latencies at DDR2-667 but was able to perform at much lower latencies in our testing with increased voltages at DDR2-667 and DDR2-800 while costing around $70 for a 1GB kit.

Transcend JetRam Memory Specifications

Number of DIMMs & Banks

2 DS

DIMM Size

512MB

Total Memory

1 GB

Rated Timings

5-5-5-12 at DDR2-667

Rated Voltage

1.8V

Transcend has additional specifications for this memory at their website. We highly recommend you take a look at Transcend's memory offerings and once again we found our particular test modules to offer the perfect blend of price and performance in our budget ASRock platform.

We also completed testing with 512MB memory modules from TwinMos and Corsair that offer much lower latencies but with costs nearing the 2GB ultra value kits based on Elpida memory.

Our ASRock motherboards offer the following options for each memory speed. Although DDR-266 and DDR2-400 is fully supported depending upon board choice we will not be testing at these memory speeds. The current BIOS options from ASRock offer a wide array of memory setting options but are very limited in voltage options with low, normal, and high being the choices.

ASRock 775Dual-VSTA

Auto

DDR2-533

DDR2-667

DDR-266

DDR-333

DDR-400

FSB 1066

X

X

X

X

X

X

FSB 800

X

X

X

X

X

X

FSB 533

X

X

X

X

X

X

ASRock ConRoeXFire-ESATA2

Auto

DDR2-400

DDR2-533

DDR2-667

FSB 1066

X

X

X

X

FSB 800

X

X

X

X

FSB 533

X

X

X

X

ASRock 775i65G

Auto

DDR-266

DDR-333

DDR-400

FSB 1066

X

X

X

X

FSB 800

X

X

X

X

FSB 533

X

X

X

X

Our Biostar TForce P965 Deluxe and DFI Infinity 975X/G motherboards offer full support for DDR2-400, DDR2-533, DDR2-667, and DDR2-800 memory speeds. Additional details on these boards can be found in our Conroe Buying Guide.

Post Your Comment

34 Comments

first I have to say, that it is a nice review, I liked it. I only have one minor critic with the following piece of text:

quote:The sweet spot for gaming with this particular video card seems to be at low latency DDR2-667 settings as DDR2-800 provides negligible benefits. We are sure with lower latencies at DDR2-800 and a more powerful GPU solution that we would see further scaling increases in performance.

I strongly doubt, that you'll see any benefits with DDR2-800 modules, regardless of the GPU, because you forgot that the FSB1066 is limiting factor. Furthermore I assume, that the DDR2-667 scores are just better because of the better absolut memory latency.

Well, as you stated, your scores may be better again with DDR2-800 RAMs @CL3, but I think that such expensive oc modules are out of question in the low cost context of the article.

You guys need to seriously have a deeper look at the ASRock 775i65G sisnce it obviously is extremely competitive. What I want to know is:

what are the overclocking / voltage options and do they work with the Conroe?
I was seriously considering buying the 775DUAL-VSTA ... but since I'm running an overclocked D820 / 2 gig Mushkin DDR500 / AGP Radeon x850 XTPE.

Why bother with DDR2 as an upgrade path on the 775DUAL-VSTA when it doesn't make all that much difference and if I have to buy a new PCI card it'll have to be a very good one to best my overclocked x850 .... and that means I would want to stick it into a better motherboard than the 775DUAL-VSTA.

All I would need is the ASRock 775i65G and the Conroe for an upgrade that seems the best deal around. Who's with me ???? Reply

775i65G?
Exactly what i've been trying to find for the last week! :-)
But no luck getting any U.S. vendor too specify that they will ship me an R2 board.
Try googling 775i65G R2 and you'll find as many as you want...in Australia, U.K., Europe, etc...what's the deal with U.S. resellers?
I'm going to try emailing the article's author...
Reply

In stock at the above link, called them and they have a few of the rev. 2 boards in stock. The other board to have if you want the i865 chipset is the ConRoe865PE which should be released in a couple of weeks. Reply

I would love if Anandtech would get Asrock to supply one of these ConRoe865PE boards for comparison testing. I saw that board at the Asrock site a while ago but couldn't find anyone in North America selling it.

Asrock seems to slowly be creeping up from the back into the enthousiiast (on a buget) market. The first thing I would fix if I were them is add solid voltage control for the CPU and memory.

I'm an enthusiast but I hate dropping tons of cash for top drawer hardware when I can have very respectable performance by carefully selecting less expensive hardware.

I'm thinking about purchasing this board along with a Conroe CPU until the prices come down on the higher-model mobos such as the Asus P5W-DH. My most pressing question is how much of a bottleneck in gaming performance will be introduced as a result of ASRock including only PCIe x4 for the GPU.

I believe that in order to answer that question, a higher performing GPU needs to be used rather than a 7600GS. Could you guys also include an extra table/graph including a comparison between a 7800GS AGP 8x and 7800GS PCIe?

The reason I want to know is because I want to whether or not putting a DX10 card in the ASRock PCIe x4 slot will bottleneck the GPU.

Or, could you guys compare the performance of a 7900GT in the ASRock board with a 7900GT GPU in a P965, P975, or other mobos that has the full PCIe x16 connection? I don't to know what difference in performance there will be and to see if it's worth putting a 7900GT PCIe in the ASRock board.